Subject: Coleoptera larva?
Geographic location of the bug: Serengeti in Tanzania
Date: 11/30/2017
Time: 02:58 PM EDT
Hi!
I’m not sure but possibly it’s a coleopteran larva. I’ve been searching by Internet but it’s been impossible to find any larva like this one.
Can you help me?
It was in may 2016.
Thanks!
How you want your letter signed: Ferran Lizana
Dear Ferran,
Except for butterflies and moths, there is often not much documentation available on immature insects. We agree this is probably a beetle larva. We are posting the image and perhaps our readers will want to take a stab at this identification.
Not exactly, but looks close to Lagria (Tenebrionidae).
I agree. Although it does bear resemblance to a Necrophila or Calosoma larva, both of the above have different antennae. Calosoma larvae, being carabids, also have large, conspicuous jaws, which this picture lacks. Furthermore, bugguide only shows North American species, and the picture above is obviously not NAmerican.
The beetlesinthebush post below features a larva very similar to this one. According to the post, that larva is a tenebrionid, perhaps Goniadera ampliata. Goniadera and Lagria are both in subfamily Lagriinae.
https://beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/answers-to-id-challenge-5-artropodes-em-casca-de-arvore-morta/
Thanks for the in depth analysis of your comment.
Curiously, I came to this page when I gave my answer too. I found it to be more simmilar, but despite it has larger antennae than Lagria, it’s shorter than this one too. Since I’m used to Lagria in Brazil, but know it’s African, I preffered to compare to it.
Now I ntice it has a “behind” different from all of our thoughts.
I have noticed that the tail end looks different from the photo in Beetlesinthebush. That is why I said “similar”, not “identical”. I’m still pretty sure it’s related to Lagria, though.
Cheers
I agree. Although it does bear resemblance to a Necrophila or Calosoma larva, both of the above have different antennae. Calosoma larvae, being carabids, also have large, conspicuous jaws, which this picture lacks. Furthermore, bugguide only shows North American species, and the picture above is obviously not NAmerican.
The beetlesinthebush post below features a larva very similar to this one. According to the post, that larva is a tenebrionid, perhaps Goniadera ampliata. Goniadera and Lagria are both in subfamily Lagriinae.
https://beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/answers-to-id-challenge-5-artropodes-em-casca-de-arvore-morta/
Curiously, I came to this page when I gave my answer too. I found it to be more simmilar, but despite it has larger antennae than Lagria, it’s shorter than this one too. Since I’m used to Lagria in Brazil, but know it’s African, I preffered to compare to it.
Now I ntice it has a “behind” different from all of our thoughts.
I have noticed that the tail end looks different from the photo in Beetlesinthebush. That is why I said “similar”, not “identical”. I’m still pretty sure it’s related to Lagria, though.
Cheers